Welcome to the General Surgery Residency Training Program at the University of Florida Department of Surgery. As you peruse this site, we trust that you will see the outstanding general surgery training experience that we have to offer.
As a gator surgeon who matched into the UF General Surgery Residency as an intern and remained heavily involved in clinical care, education, research, and administration ever since, I attest that this residency is the gem of our great Department. Through this heavily biased lens, I will provide an overview of our program.
Delivering the best surgical care possible is our highest and most important calling. Our trainees receive high levels of graduated, earned autonomy in learning to deliver excellent patient care for the diverse patients who receive care at our three adjacent UF Health hospital towers and the immediately adjacent Veterans Affairs hospital, and are well prepared to practice after graduation. UF Health sees patients from every county in Florida and every state in the United States annually. Our 11-county catchment area ensures a broad patient base and substantial breadth and depth of clinical experience.
An excellent didactic program provides the structure to acquire knowledge and problem-solving skills that will serve as the foundation for sound surgical judgment and evidence-based practice. Our first- and second-year clinical residents participate in a flipped classroom style conference that is based on the national Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) curriculum and includes domain expertise from faculty surgeons. Our third- and fourth-year clinical residents participate in a weekly review of important surgical literature with integrated discussions of implications for practice led by faculty content experts. Our chief residents participate in a self-designed curriculum focusing on leadership, the business of healthcare, career development, and other topics of their choosing. Our Morbidity and Mortality conferences occur every other week, alternating with Grand Rounds, and focus on opportunities to improve the care we provide. Every year, two Morbidity and Mortality conferences are replaced by board-style mock oral exam sessions, two are replaced by descriptions of spectacular saves, and two are replaced by discussions of ethical complications led by the Chair of the Clinical Ethics Service for UF Health. All didactic activities occur during a weekly 4-hour block of educational time that is protected from clinical duties.
We strengthen and test technical skills through weekly hands-on training sessions that cover open, laparoscopic, robotic, and endoscopic procedures including cadaver and perfused porcine exercises, as well as several non-technical skills (e.g., palliative care planning, root cause analysis performance, ergonomics). Interns and second-year clinical residents also participate in an evidence-based, longitudinal surgical boot camp, deliberate practice, and twice-per-year Surgical Olympics curriculum. All skills lab activities occur during a weekly 4-hour block of educational time that is protected from clinical duties. The highly trained General Surgery resident at UF also benefits from individual technical instruction from many master surgeons. We seek to optimize clinical training such that each trainee experiences the vast scope of general surgical operations. Therefore, each trainee will exceed the ACGME requirements for index cases.
As a highly academic Department in a research-intensive medical school, the Department of Surgery has numerous faculty members funded by the National Institutes of Health, and ranks in the top five Departments of Surgery in the United States according to Blue Ridge Rankings. All residents spend two or more years engaged in full-time academic development in addition to their traditional five years of clinical training. These experiences are fully funded and have enabled UF residents to become among the most productive in the country. While most residents choose to engage in existing research fellowships, residents are also welcomed to pursue other professional development opportunities in education, simulation, law, public health, or other relevant domains. We encourage and enable but do not require the pursuit of an advanced degree (e.g., Ph.D. or Masters) during professional development.
Our residents participate in a formal mentoring program in which they are matched with an engaged faculty mentor for the first three years of clinical training. Throughout residency, our residents enjoy a vibrant, wellness program that is led by residents, supported by faculty, and makes the most of the wonderful people in our Department and all Gainesville has to offer (river tubing, scalloping, poolside BBQ, tailgating, Halloween party and pumpkin carving, Thanksgiving dinner, Holiday party, paintball hosted by Dr. Tom “The Predator” Read, post-ABSITE low country boil and bonfire, residents vs. faculty kickball, axe-throwing, annual Vascular Surgery fishing tournament, class dinners, Graduation parties, etc.). Bonds of camaraderie are important to the social fabric and team-based culture of our Department.
These activities serve our mission to provide the best general surgical training available by inculcating highly motivated learners with knowledge that translates into superb clinical judgment and exceptional technical skill while instilling in our trainees a deep commitment to the patient, confidence based on self-education for lifelong learning that will allow them to adapt to the ever-changing environment of surgery. The depth and breadth of our clinical experience, the quality of our educational systems, the vibrance of our professional development pathways, and the strength of our culture provide limitless opportunities for the relentless pursuit of excellence and leadership in academic surgery.
Tyler Loftus, MD, PhD
Program Director, General Surgery Residency